1 valve

But professional sports ARE NOT moving away from gambling sponsorship. Also betting markets for speedway are numerous, well beyond place results. In other words speedway & the betting industry could work well as a partnership. Don’t knock it based on a biased opinion but embrace it as a positive way forward.

Greyhounds do not get tv coverage. The potential way forward is for sponsorship of speedway to include both tv advertising and numerous betting markets.

The challenge that will remain most prevalent will be how to avoid riders once developed from moving over to Poland the answer being to match what they can earn over there ...and we are some way off that scenario.

The majority went on riders pay. Some of it went to promoters in the form of profits. nothing was spent on developing the sport or the facilities.

The "family sport" tag was used as a way of differentiating speedway crowds from that of football which in the 70's and the level of hooliganism seen at football grounds was well founded. Today, speedway still remains a "family sport" unfortunately not attended by families to any great extent unlike football with some clubs having massive sections dedicated to families a lot who are season ticket holders. also looking back, Speedway, as a "family sport" didn't mind running many events sponsored by the fag and booze companies now actually banned from such advertising. And lets not forget Durex - hardy "family" related Times have moved on (ok maybe not speedway UK) and speedway folk should accept with open arms the betting industry which in itself is one of the most tightly regulated businesses here in the UK. and consider this, nobody needs to place a bet at a meeting, just like nobody needs to drink booze and smoke fags/vape at meetings, but plenty still do!

Giving free bets at meetings will do nothing to attract new attendees at meetings but will increase or divert the cost of sponsorship. Also worth recognising that the days of the local bookies with his pitch & bag attending meetings are long gone with the main potential market for speedway betting being online on a global basis where like the dogs and frankly any sport there is no need to attend the actual meeting to place a bet. Speedway is ideal for betting on a number of different models & if live streaming can be installed at all tracks then indeed the sport may well be able to attract a much needed financial lifeline. Again, my only worry would be that the promoters do nothing with the cash to improve the sports infrastructure, promotion & rider development and thereby creating medium & longterm growth. They will of course ensure their own pockets are suitably filled.

Does he still hold the BSPA license or was this lost when the stadium “closed”?

Any suitable promoters genuinely waiting in the wings to take the opportunity forward with up front investment in the basic infrastructure?

Absolutely 100% spot on, Caused by too many self serving promoters thinking “me, I and myself” for far too long.

Maybe a version of the old 13 heat format (happiness was 40-38)should be considered with six man teams and the final race being made up of nominated riders. Also give team managers more of an input by allowing teams trailing by (say) 6 points choice of gate positions. And then after an interval have a short second half featuring juniors/development teams. Basically, providing some variety at no extra cost.

More likely 500 fans at £25 as VAT needs to be deducted. That said, a good portion of the two riders “pay” is met by sponsorship rather than gate receipts.

The immediate issue with promotion & relegation is that there is every chance a promoted team would have to change its race night to either a Monday or Thursday. And we all know what the self serving promoters feel about that!

There have been very good and well meaning observations & suggestions on what should happen in 2026. However, maybe we should speculate more on what we think the promoters will actually instigate in 2026. For me, a move to two leagues (six teams in the top tier) with a dumbing down of both competitions by lowering the points limit and in doing so move the rising star concept to the lower tier. Note: this is what I think the promoters will do, not what I think should happen

All the big decisions have been made. AGM needed to formally ratify & minute for the purpose of due process.

Although in essence a great idea, as always the devil would be in the detail, in this case the cost and quality of the production and in particular who would be responsible for ensuring both are met at a consistent level. Speedway UK does need TV but considering only current fans are the vast majority of viewers TV coverage of fixtures is not & will not drive growth of support. What is required is a TV series similar to “Drive to Survive” which has served F1 to have an all time growth in the sport on a global basis. For UK speedway, a combined fly on the wall series & fixtures shown on TV would lead to new spectators seeking live events.

It was distributed to vested promotions in an equitable manner who decided by and large to spend the vast majority of the income on paying riders inflated pay rates. What didn’t happen was that the money was handled in what the sponsors hoped for which was to use significant amounts of money to invest in the infrastructure and development of the sport which in turn would lead to a growth in interest and value for their subscriber base. As a comparison think what football, cricket, Rugby & darts have done to use TV money as a catalyst to greatly improve facilities and evolve their sport to provide bigger & better experiences for both attendees & viewers alike.

The key decisions have already been made. Just need the AGM to ratify what is necessary to do so as a matter of record. Not a great deal of time required hence one day in Rugby to do the business.

Not quite. Top league will still have fixed race nights of Mon & Thur leaving days free for riders to race in Scandinavia & Poland. Biggest positive for UK speedway by reducing doubling up is to give credibility to the sport. That said I’m not convinced promoters will actually see it through.

Great to read JCB continuing their much valued sponsorship & support of the Lions in 2026

And/or a restriction on using riders who double up?

There will not be one league but there maybe plans afoot to limit the number of riders who double up.

Highly unlikely given the Friday GP came about at late notice due to the demise of Cardiff. Not even sure the UK will host two GP’s given the lack of suitable venues although as mooted elsewhere Ipswich could be possibility with its overall available capacity for crowd and other activities associated with a GP weekend.

Losing the RS system would not be to save money but to make way for higher average and competitive reserve. Saving money comes from doing away with the top scorer. The RS initiative would/could be adopted by the championship as part of consolidating riders from the NDL & championship to accommodate a lower points limit in the second uk league.

The money saved by substituting a number 6 with a RS is absolutely nothing compared with dropping a number one for another 4-5 point reserve & dropping RS altogether.

Maybe to unilaterally remove the cost and points of at least one top rider per team and remove Rising star concept in favour of another reserve.